Safety suspension device



Feb. 29, 1944. A 1 SCHULTZ SAFETY SUSPENSION DEVICE Filed D'ec. 24, 1941Patented Feb'.

SAFETY SUSPENSION DEVICE Arnold J. Schultz, Bellport, N. Y., assixnor toSlmplex Safety Block Co. Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewYork Application December 24, 1941, Serial No. 424,233

6 Claims. (Cl. 25d-192) This invention is directed to a safety devicewhich is adapted to be used in the suspension of life-boats, scaioldsand the like, so as to enable the occupants thereof to manipulate theirposition .with full control of the boat or scadold.

In such devices and especially in life-boats, which are hung fromdavits,` considerable diillculty arises when it is necessary to lowerthe boats. It has been customary to cause the lowthereof, especially atnight.

pable of manipulating the same.

perfect control.

operative position.

or the like.

like, can be accurately and closely controlled.

In the accompanying drawing, constituting apart hereof and in which likereference characy ters indicate like parts:

ering by hand manipulation of ropes by at least Fig. 3 is a fragmentaryvertical cross-sectional two individuals aboard the vessel, theiractions view, taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and lowering thelife-boats to vthe water. `Consider- Fig. 4 is a perspective view of amodiiled form able diiiiculties arise in that since each individual ofthe device, shown in Fig. 1. controls one end of the boat, it is mostdiiiicult The device consists essentially of a block havto lower bothends equally, particularly as when ing lateral faces I and 2, a frontface 3 and a the boat is part-way down from the vessel, it is rear face4. As shown in Fig. l, the block is elonno longer visible to theoperators aboard the vesgated and has at the' lower end 5 thereof, ansel. Therefore, very often a boat iscapsized beopening 6 whereby thedevice may be attachedfore it reaches the water. Also, it is impossibleto a boat, platform, or the like. At the upper end for the operators toslowly and uniformly lower I of the b1ock, there is usually provided anopenthe boat so thatmany accidents occur by reason ing 8 whereby a ropemay be secured to the top of the device.

In order to overcome these disadvantages, it is Within the block and ata central portion highly desirable that a device be provided whichthereof, there is an opening 9 extending from 'is' located within .theboat itself and which can 25 front 3 to back 4 of the block. A pulley I0is rbe manipulated by the occupants of the boat, who pivoted on axis II. Below said pulley and above are in a position to determine at alltimes exactly opening 6 and extending laterally from the block, how thelowering should be conducted. It is also is the member I 2 formedintegrally with the block desirable that the control of the lowering beso and having a brake face I3 therein. Sides I I simple that eveninexperienced persons are caand I5 thereof extend forwardly and hold inpivoted position by axis I6, a cam I1 recessed as It is therefore amongthe objects of the presshown at I8. The faceof the cam is formed withent invention to provide a device which may be corrugations I9 to bettergrip arope. attached to a boat, scaffold, or the like and whichExtending downwardly from the cam and inwill render it a simple matterfor .the occupant 35 tegral therewith, is a handle 20 which in the potolower the device at any desired speed, and with sition shown, isvertical. The cam is in gripping position. The Weight of the handle 20is sub- It is also among the objects of the present in-1 stantiallygreater than the weight of the cam I1; vention to provide a device whichis simple in so that the action of gravity tends continuallyconstruction, contains but a few parts, which is to hold the cam ingripping position. sturdy, and which may be readily inserted in Inoperation, a rope 2I is secured to an VAupper block which is held on thedavit or the like, the In practicing the present invention, there isrope extending at 22 downwardly under pulley provided an elongatedblock, usually of cast metal- I0, then extending upwardly as shown at23, over such as bronze or of malleable iron. YIntegrally 4" the pulleyof the upper block, andthen down- 'formed therewith is a brake face, anda pivoted wardly as shown at 24, around and over the snubcam cooperatestherewith to grip a. rope, cable, hing-post 25. Said -post extendslaterally from A handle formed on the cam isV se side 2 of the blocktheupper surface being aparranged that the action of gravity normallyproximately on the same level las the top of pulley forces the camintothe grippingposition. Up- 50 I0. The rope then passes downwardly asshown ward movement of the handle by the operator at 26, through thespace between face I3 and will release the rope to the desired extentand by cam I1, and out as shown at 2 1, the free end of continuedmanipulation. the speed ofA movement the rope resting .in the boat orthe like. of the rope and consequently of the boat or the In suspendinga-boat from the davits, two such blocks are used, one at each\end oftheboat. as

20 and moves it forwardly and upwardly, relative 'to the block, therebyreleasing the rope 26, the

weight of the boatthen causing slipping of the rope through the brake,snubbing-post and pulleys. The two operators may, by shifting the handlebackward and forward, control the speed of movement of rope 26 or arrestit as desired. Such control is very simple and does not require anygreat effort on the part of the operators. If the operators should dropthe handles then the brake automatically locks the boat in place.

In Fig. 1 a rope 28 is shown as passing through opening 6. It may beusedfor securing to the boat or the like. However, in many cases, a hook isprovided which replaces rope 28 and may be inserted into opening 6.

As shown in Fig. 1, the opening 8 is not used. It is provided in casethe boat block on the davit has two pulleys instead of one. In suchcase, the end of rope 2| is tied in opening 8. It then passes over oneof the pulleys of the boat block, down under pulley I0, then upward overthe second pulley, and then downwardly as shown at 24, 26 and 21..

In Fig. 4 there is shown a modication of the device in which there isprovided a block 30 of elongated form, having vertical partitions 3|extending from front to back, and defining three openings in whichpulleys 32 are mounted.

To the lower end 35 of block 30 is secured a hook .36. This may beformed integrally with the block. It is adapted to hold a ring 31 orother element which supports the boat or the like. Extending laterallyfrom portion 35 at side 33 are members 38, similar to members I4 and l5of Fig- 2. A cam 39 is pivoted at 46 and cooperates ilyith a brake face(not shown) similar to face A handle Il integral with cam 3S extends ina horizontal direction and. as shown in Fig. 4, is' slightly above thehorizontal. theextreme end thereof, provides suitable weight to forcecam 39 into the gripping position as shown in Fig. 4, by the actionof'gravity. In many cases, particularly in certain types of lifeboatswhere the covers thereof extend up to hook 36 or opening 6, if thehandle in the gripping position extended downwardly, there might beinterference with the placing and the removal of the cover. Therefore,as shown in Fig. 4, the handle may be made to extend substantiallyhorizontally and thus avoid such a diiliculty.

In the prior art it has been attempted to obtain results of the typedescribed herein, but the devices suggested for the purpose have beenentirely inadequate. In one such device there was provided a relativelylong member which was pivoted and which was intendedto be Dressedagainst a rope by hand in order to modify the speed of the rope.However. this did not operate by a cam action and normally there was nogripping of the rope by the device. Furthermore, it was necessary thatthe pressure exerted by the A knob 42 oiix a considerable number ofparts. so that the strengh thereof was'inadequate. It was liable to ftachment of the device to operator be sufficient in order to give thec1amp` ing action. In another device for the same pur,- pose, there wasprovided a cam .arrangement of complicated character having a springdevice which normally held the cam in gripping position. ItA wasnecessary, by handmanipulation, to overcome the pressure of the spring'.This device had numerous disadvantages in that there was 'no certaintyof the operation of the spring device and the entire structure wasfabricated of be injured by even moderate blows and it was incapable ofwithstanding the corrosive action of weather on the various assembledparts.

Although the invention has been described, setting forth two embodimentsthereof, it 'is apparent that changes may be made in the details of theconstruction within the spirit of the invention. For instance, the exactform and shape of the blocks aswell as the size thereof, may be variedat will. It is essential that the relative arrangement of the brake,snubblngpost and pulley be as shown, but variations'in the detail ofconstruction may be made.A One of the sides I4 or I5 may be open so thata rope may be slipped into the brake. While it'f'is preferred that theentireblock and associated parts be cast or forged or otherwiseintegrally 'tormed. it is'of course possible to modify the constructionand form the same of a greater number of parts. However, the simplicityand unitary construction is highly desirable for service wear. In viewof the above, the invention is to be broadly construed and not to belimited except by the claims appended hereto. What is claimed is:

,1. Safety device for boats, scaiolds, and the like comprising anelongated solid unitary block, means formed in the lower end thereof forattachment to a device to be supported, a brake face extending laterallyfrom said block and formed integrally therewith, a cam held laterallyfrom said block and pivoted in said extension and adjacent to said face,a handle rigidly ity acting to clamp said flexible member against Amovement, and a snubbirig-post extending laterally from said block abovesaid face in vertical alinement therewith to hold said flexible memberin operative relation with said cam, the manipulation of said handlebeing adapted to allow continuous and variable movement of said flexiblemember.

2. `Apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein a lateral hole is providedat the upper end of the block for the attachment of a flexible memberand wherein an .enlarged lateral hole at the lower end of the blockprovides said means formed in the lower end of the block for the atbesupported. 3. Safety device for boats, scaifolds, and the likecomprisingan elongated solid unitary block,

,means formed in the lower end thereof for ating laterally' from saidblock above said face in vertical' alinement therewith .to hold saidrope in operative relation with said cam, the manipulation of saidhandle being adaptedto allow continuous and variable movement ofsaid'lilexible member. y'

4. Safety device for boats,'scalflds,and the like comprising anelongated solid unitary block,

means formed in the lower end thereof for attachment to a device to besupported, at least one pulley pivoted within the body of said block ona horizontal axis inthe central portion there-l of, a brake face belowsaid pulley extending laterally from said block and formed integrallytherewith,.a cam held laterally from said block and pivoted in saidextension and adjacent to said face, a handle rigidly secured to saidcam,

said face and cam adapted to clamp a rope 'face of said snubbingv-postAbeing in substantially horizontal alinement with said pulley, the

, manipulation of said vhandle being adapted to allow continuous andvariable movement of said ilexible member.

5. In a safety device which is adapted to percause the rope to beclampedI a snubbing post extending laterally from said block above saidbracket for cooperating with the rope, and a pulley mounted within saidblock above the center of the block with the block recessed and thepulley of such a size that a rope passing downwardly and about saidpulley and thence upwardly again passes free of the two sides of theblock. i f

6. A safety device of the character describedA comprising, an elongatedsolid unitary block having means at one end thereof forattachment to adevice to be supported, a braeket extending laterally from said blockand formed integrally therewith, said bracket having a pair eratetherewith in clamping a rope extending mit continuous and variabledescent of a device supported by a rope, the combination of, anelongated solid unitary block adapted to be held ina vertical positionand having attaching means at the lower end thereof, a bracket extendinglaterallyw from said block and formed integrally therewith. said brackethaving a pair of spaced ears with a brake face therebetween,

a cam member pivoted between said ears and face whereby the weight ofthe handle tends to d0 therebetween, said cam member having a handlerigidly secured to said cam portion and so related to said cam surfacethat the weight ofthe handle under the action of gravity acts to clampthe tion by the opposed forces of the device to be supported at thelower end of the block and of the combined action of a rope-extendingthrough said pulley and the rope acted upon by said cam member andwhereby the manipulation of said handle allows continuous and variablemovement of the rope.

.f- ARNOLD J. SCHULTZ.

